US Olympic leaders eye change on protests amid wary athletes

DENVER — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is open to challenging IOC rules restricting protests at the Olympics. The federation, in response to the nationwide protests following George Floyd’s killing, said it “stands with those who demand equality.” After that, CEO Sarah Hirshland announced the formation of an athletes’ working group that will, among other things, look into changing the IOC’s longstanding rule banning political protests on Olympic medals stands. Hirshland said the group will not only be focusing on the protest restrictions — codified in the IOC charter under “Rule 50” — but will also have a “much broader conversation about racism, and doing things that create a barrier to racism.” A recasting of Rule 50 could be the sort of game-changing move that many athletes have sought since 1968, when sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith were sent home from the Mexico City Olympics for their indelible raised-fist salute on the medals stand. “We call on the IOC and to end this hypocrisy, stand by their athletes and abolish Rule 50,” the athletes’ advocacy group Global Athlete said in a statement this weekend. “Athletes will no longer be silenced.” Shortly after the USOPC’s announcements of the past weeks, IOC President Thomas Bach said the committee’s own athlete group would “explore different ways” opinions could be expressed during the games, while still “respecting the Olympic spirit.” Hirshland describes the push in the U.S. for more racial sensitivity in the Olympic world not as a power play with the IOC but as an “obligation of leadership” that has to be conducted “in the spirit of humility, partnership and collaboration and open and honest dialogue.” The USOPC’s role would, of course, be strengthened by a unified voice from athletes who are diverse not only in race and background but also in their opinions.